SpaceX is about to launch a satellite tv for pc for the Australian telecom firm Optus this afternoon (Nov. 17) from Florida’s Area Coast.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Optus-X satellite tv for pc is scheduled to elevate off from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Area Heart as we speak, throughout a two-hour window that opens at 4:29 p.m. EST (2029 GMT).
SpaceX will livestream the motion through its account on X, beginning about quarter-hour earlier than launch.
If all goes in response to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage will return to Earth about 9 minutes after liftoff, touchdown vertically on the droneship “A Shortfall of Gravitas,” which can be stationed within the Atlantic Ocean.
Will probably be the sixteenth launch and touchdown for this specific booster, in response to a SpaceX mission description. 9 of its 15 flights so far have been devoted to constructing out SpaceX’s Starlink megaconstellation in low Earth orbit (LEO).
Optus-X is not headed to LEO, nevertheless; the Falcon 9’s higher stage will ship it to geosynchronous switch orbit. The satellite tv for pc will then make its personal approach to geostationary orbit, which lies 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above Earth.
Right now’s deliberate launch is a part of a really busy three-day stretch for SpaceX. Elon Musk’s firm plans to launch two missions on Monday (Nov. 18) — a Starlink batch and an Indian telecom satellite tv for pc — and the sixth-ever take a look at flight of its Starship megarocket on Tuesday (Nov. 19).
